I reinforced a lesson I’d learnt after last Thursday’s Brick gig – always be prepared.
My main points are strings. If you go on with month old strings, no matter how often you tune during a gig, they’ll sound flat. I’ve also gigged with strings fresh out from the packet. This has a similar effect though, as the strings need to be a little warn to your guitar first 
So I recommend re-stringing on the rehearsal before the gig.
A few more points too, always bring spares! A spare guitar or just strings, a spare power adapter if you’re using effects, or spare batteries if you’d prefer.
On Thursday I wanted to gig my new Tele (blog post to follow 
). I guess I saw the gig as quite a casual affair. This is such a bad mistake to make. You should always treat every gig as if it’s your last, if not for your own enjoyment. I didn’t take any spares, as you may have guessed!
Half-way through the set, during our song “Friend or Foe”, I went to smash into a pounding loud chorus. I’d hit the effect pedal, and I picked on the low D-string (we play drop-tuned). Nothing happened! The string had bust.
So I had to go through the rest of the set, playing one of my favorate songs “Seven Questions” sans D-string. Such a shame.
On the plus side I’ve always wanted to state to someone
Yeah, when I snap a string, I keep going because I can compensate
but the truth of the matter is, you can’t for a low-D string. I was always inspired from a performace Gary Moore did with Phil Lynnott. He bust his string and kept going strong. However, I’m not playing blues solos, I needed that extra string!
So lesson learnt (again!) – awlays be prepared!
